Archive of Our Own ^beta

Blitz recognizes the voice as soon as it shrieks through his office. He stiffens, head shooting up. He shoves his sketchbook in a drawer and is preparing to vault over his desk and burst into the main room when his office door flies open. Standing in the doorway is Stolas's shitty ex-wife, scowling like she has eaten a lemon.

"What the fuck?" Blitz goes to stand but stops when Stella slams his office door shut behind her, drowning out Millie and Loona's protests. "The fuck are you doing here?" He meets her glare. "Just 'cause you're a Goetia doesn't mean you can just barge in without a fucking appointment."

Stella sneers at the walls of the office. "Believe me, imp, I take no pleasure in being in this..." Stella's gaze flicks around--at the posters, the clutter on Blitz's desk, Blitz himself. "Hovel. But it is in your best interest to listen to me."

I doubt it. Blitz drums the fingers of his right hand on his desk and does his best to look bored. "I have work to do, so make it choppy." Blitz's left hand is under the desk, his finger twitching over the Stolas SOS button. In the past, he's used it to let Loona know when to put headphones on and give Blitz's office wide berth. He hopes she'll know it means something else now.

Stella drops a check on Blitz's desk. "I am prepared to offer you enough money for you to never have to work again, you insolent insect."

Blitz's eyes widen when he makes out the number of digits written in the amount section of the check. He squints up at Stella. "And what's the catch?" he asks slowly. He draws his hand away from the SOS buttons.

"Break Stolas's heart."

Blitz blinks. Looks down at the check, at the frankly ridiculous number written there, then back up. This lady has lost her fucking marbles, he thinks. Maybe he should have hit the distress button after all.

Stella continues "That fool has made an embarrassment of the Goetia name just for associating with you in the first place. I know you're just using him for that ridiculous book of his, but he seems to have developed an infatuation with you." She grins and leans forward as though she is about to place her hands on the desk, but thinks the better of it. "Stol-ass destroyed my social standing by having the nerve to divorce me, and I want him to suffer. So, break his heart. End things with him, make it hurt, and this money is yours."

Blitz stares at her. Then at the check. Then back at her. He snorts. "You really dragged your pretentious, bitchy ass into my office just to waste my time? Please." He rolls his eyes. "Get the fuck out, I have actual fucking clients to talk to." He props his hooves up on the desk.

"What? I knew imps were fucking stupid, but this--"

"Look, lady, if I was that fucking desperate, I could just ask Stolas for twice that amount, and he'd probably give me a blow job on top as an extra bonus. As it is, I don't take fucking handouts." Blitz examines his claws. "Especially not from harpies who care more about petty revenge on Hell's twinkiest bird for being gay the way Lucifer intended. So take your shitty offer and your shitty personality out of my office, and stay the fuck away from me."

"You're just as fucking stupid as that idiot." Stella snatches up the check and shreds it between her talons. "I should never have let Andrealphus talk me out of calling off that useless assassin."

Blitz stares at his hooves on the desk, the picture frame beside them, the mug full of pens and pencils.

"What."

Stella rolls her eyes. "What, did you think your useless employees actually saved him? Please. If I hadn't pulled his leash, that useless twig would be--"

A click interrupts her. Stella goes silent, blinking in cross-eyed outrage at the flintlock pointed at the center of her forehead. Blitz doesn't say anything. Everything is still--his eyes, his tail, his hand, his finger poised over the trigger. He stands in the center of his desk, stance wide and eyes dark.

Stella actually looks scared for a moment. Then she stares hard at Blitz's face and laughs. "Oh, this is fucking ridiculous. You actually have feelings for him?" Another laugh.

Blitz shoves the barrel into her face, and she hisses through her beak. Blitz's voice has lost all the cultivated disinterest and disrespect; now it's just sharp and jagged like the edges of his favorite knife. "You should consider yourself very lucky that there's an owlet out there that calls you her mother, because that is the only reason there's not a bullet in your brain right now." There's something white-hot and molten in Blitz's chest, cutting itself out of his rib cage from the inside. He wants to claw this bitch's face off and stuff it down her throat.

Stella laughs abruptly. There's something off to her laugh, though--gone is the arrogance of knowing she has the situation under control. Blitz can smell her fear like a shark senses blood in water. It's a familiar taste. "Your bullets can't kill me, you little wretch. I'm a Goetia." Stella's eyes narrow in challenge.

Blitz's lips curl up, revealing a humorless grin and sharp teeth. "Maybe not. But it would still hurt like a bitch." He leans forward. His tail snaps behind him once. "If you send that cowboy anywhere near Stolas ever again, I will destroy you." He holds Stella's gaze as her eyes go wide. Lets her see he means it. Lets her understand that he's capable of it, too. He might make a living killing humans, but he was an assassin in Hell first, and he was damn good at it.

Stella gapes at him for all of five seconds, too shocked to be angry. Then her surprise shatters into rage. Her feathers bristle, and she leans forward, into the barrel of the gun, just so she can jab Blitz in the chest with one of her gleaming talons. "How dare you," she seethes. "Andrealphus will--"

"Will what?"

Both Stella and Blitz startle at the voice that interrupts them, each stepping back. Standing in the open doorway to Blitz's office is Stolas, arms folded and pupils bright. He looks like an omen, backlit from the lights in the main room of the office, his feathers dark and his cape rippling in a draft that breezes through the doorway. His gaze is fixed on Stella.

"Would either of you like to explain what the meaning of this is?" Stolas says coldly.

Blitz retracts his flintlock, turns on the safety, and tucks it into his coat. "Your ex-wife was just leaving." Something anxious curls in his stomach. He just drew a gun on Stella. It's not the act itself that he's worried about; he'd do it again, and he meant it when he said he'd destroy Stella if she put Stolas in danger again. But Stolas saw. And it's Stolas's reaction--cold and hard, missing all of the usual Blitzys and fussiness that Blitz is used to--that is worrying him.

Stella glares at Blitz, then spins around. She snarls at Stolas as she storms past into the main room. "Train your pet not to bite." She's halfway to the exit when the silence in the office is interrupted again.

"Stella." Stolas's voice is flat. He steps out of the doorway to Blitz's office. Blitz hops off his desk and moves into Stolas's shadow.

Stella rolls her eyes and turns. "What?"

Stolas meets her gaze. "If you or Andrealphus lay a hand on any of these demons, I will end you."

Stella blinks. "You wouldn't. Octavia--"

"Do not bring her into this." The shadows in the office lengthen, creeping up the walls. Blitz's tail flicks. He meets Moxxie's gaze from the opposite side of the room. He and Millie are huddled together, and Moxxie's hand is resting just over where he keeps his handgun tucked under his tailcoat. Millie's eyes are wide, flicking between the two Goetia. "Do not bring Blitz or his employees into this again, either." Stolas takes another step toward her. "Your issues with me are with me. And no one else."

Stella's eyes betray her fear--not of Stolas. They flick to Blitz. He meets her eyes. His hand brushes his gun under his coat. Stella's feathers ripple again and she looks back to Stolas as she steps away from both of them. "You disgust me." She turns and leaves. The door slams shut.

The only sound in the echo of the door closing is the ticking of the clock. Blitz breaks first, staring up at Stolas's back. He fidgets with his tail, takes a step toward Stolas. "Stolas, I--"

Stolas spins around, drops to his knees, and kisses Blitz so hard that Blitz sees stars. He lets out a muffled noise before his eyes drop shut, and he cups the back of Stolas's neck. Sparks shoot up his spine. He hasn't kissed Stolas in so many months and he had forgotten how right it feels. The answer to a question he hadn't realized he was asking.

Blitz's brain has barely processed that he's being kissed when it ends. Stolas tears himself away and cups Blitz's cheeks, his eyes wide and watery. "Blitz," Stolas says, as if that explains everything. Blitz is still trying to remember how to breathe without the taste of Stolas against his lips.

"Wha?" Blitz says intelligently.

Stolas's eyes brim with tears. Blitz stares up at them, at the shade of red he'd forgotten he was obsessed with, at the grey feathers he'd had to clean out of the back of his van, at the overwhelming emotion pouring out of Stolas. "I heard what she asked you to do."

Blitz blinks. He tries to remember how to speak, how to form words, but the high of kissing Stolas is lingering and making his thoughts foggy. "You... heard all of that?"

Stolas nods, tears spilling onto his faceplate. Blitz numbly grabs at Stolas's wrists. He's pretty sure he's supposed to be panicking about how much Stolas heard, but he can't remember what exactly was said and why he's supposed to give a shit. Stolas is here. After so many months of being blown off, after the way Blitz had failed Stolas when he'd been kidnapped, after the silence and tension that had felt insurmountable--Stolas is here. And he just kissed Blitz, after Blitz threatened to murder his ex-wife. Because Blitz threatened to murder his ex-wife? His head spins.

"Darling," Stolas says, all watery and soft. Blitz tries to reconcile that tone and its target. Blitz isn't meant for soft things. Soft things like Stolas. "I--I--" Stolas breaks off, beak trembling.

Blitz releases one of Stolas's wrists to reach for Stolas's face. His hand stops partway, stretched out between them. He can see his hand, can see the scars through his gauntlets, and he knows better, knows he doesn't get to touch pretty things like Stolas--

Stolas draws one hand away from Blitz's face and cups the back of Blitz's outstretched hand. Blitz stares, dumbstruck, as Stolas guides Blitz's hand to Stolas's jaw and leans into the touch.

"Stols..." Blitz blinks at the way Stolas nuzzles into Blitz's hand, holding it against his face.

"Thank you," Stolas says.

Blitz's head finally catches up. He's in the office, and he's pretty sure M&M and Loona are staring at them. And Stolas is here.

And he heard Blitz threaten Stella. Which means he heard Stella imply that Blitz has feelings for Stolas, and possibly that she assumes Stolas has feelings for Blitz. Stolas, who is too kind to take the book from Blitz even though he's clearly lost interest in him. Stolas, who Blitz failed, who could have died, and he would have died thinking Blitz didn't care at all. Stolas, who is... kneeling here, holding Blitz's hand to his face like it's worthy of touching something like Stolas, like Blitz is worthy of it. Stolas, who kissed Blitz like a dying man, who has been brought to tears, by...

By what?

Blitz blinks hard and takes a slow breath. His thumb brushes Stolas's cheek. "Why are you crying?" he asks, and he can't help the disbelief that bleeds into his tone.

Stolas smiles at him, gentle and soft and all the things Blitz has been running away from for so long. He sniffles. "I thought you didn't care."

There's an audible record scratch in Blitz's brain. He actually gapes at Stolas for a moment, then glances sideways at Millie where she and Moxxie are staring at them, just to double-check that someone else heard that. Then he looks back at Stolas.

"After the kidnapping, when you never visited..." Stolas breaks eye contact. "I hoped, of course, but... I feared... I mean, I always--"

Blitz shakes his head and accidentally dislodges Stolas's hand from his own face. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he blurts.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Millie's voice shatters through Blitz's confusion, and his eyes widen. He turns his head to see her stomping toward them. "Would you two stop acting like fuckin' babies?" She turns toward Stolas with her hands on her hip and points her tail at Blitz. "This one has been a fuckin' mess since Striker fucked you up, 'cause he's an idiot but he does care about you, you big dumb bird. And you!" She spins toward Blitz and points a finger at him. All three of them ignore Moxxie's flustered sputtering about etiquette and royalty and Millie, you can't say that to a Prince! "What is this about you not visitin' him?" she snaps. "I had to fuckin' convince you Mox and I could rescue him without you, and then you don't even visit him afterward? What the fuck, Blitz?"

Blitz gapes at her. His ears ring. "Millie--"

"Don't give me any of that it's transactional and it don't mean anything bullshit," she growls. "Anyone with an ounce of sense knows you're full of shit, except him, apparently. I know you, Blitz, and I ain't gonna let you drive him away 'cause you're too dense to see what's literally right in front of you." Her tail lashes; Blitz and Stolas are still holding onto each other, and Blitz is debating in his head the likelihood of Millie starting an imp fight out of frustration and how he can keep Stolas out of the crossfire. "He's got romantic feelings for you, you got romantic feelings for him, now talk about it like fuckin' adults!"

For the second time, silence looms in the office, punctuated by the ticking of the clock behind Loona's desk.

"Damn," Loona says into the silence.

Blitz is trying to find the courage to turn his head and look at Stolas, but he can't summon it. He feels like he's just woken up in a back alley naked and hungover and is going to have to try and find clothes with his balls hanging out.

Stolas squeezes Blitz's hand. "Blitz, darling..." His voice trails off, and then there's a familiar hand brushing Blitz's cheek. "She's right. About me, at least. This isn't how I meant..." Stolas sighs. "I do have feelings for you," Stolas admits, voice soft.

Blitz opens his mouth--

"Wait," Stolas pleads, and Blitz's mouth snaps shut. He finally turns his head to look at Stolas--his big red eyes, his feathers, his beak, curved into a timid smile that makes Blitz want to throw up. "I don't want you to feel... like you have to humor my feelings because of the--the grimoire." Stolas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He releases Blitz's face to summon a small portal and reach through it. Blitz's eyes track the sparkles, the movement. "I meant to tell you on the next full moon," Stolas continues, holding a small box in his hand in the space between them. "But I--"

I do have feelings for you.

The words hit Blitz like a tidal wave, albeit one delayed. His gaze snaps up to Stolas's face as Stolas keeps talking. The words miss him entirely; he's too distracted by the way Stolas's beak moves as he speaks, by the flickering of his eyes like he can't settle them in one spot, by the little tears that have soaked into his feathers. He's so fucking pretty. Blitz remembers all the times he's felt the words rise in his throat and then run away; he'd been so sure that Stolas was just horny, was too perfect and pristine to actually care...

There's a part of Blitz that doesn't believe it. That is instinctively pulling away, is rambling about roleplay or some nonsense, but there's a louder part of him that just threatened a Goetia for Stolas's sake and is too distracted by the pretty eyes in front of him to let that smaller, scared imp overpower his head. Even with the fear freezing his muscles, he's hearing thunder clap in his head.

"Blitz?" Stolas asks, and Blitz blinks once, twice.

"What?" Blitz replies, voice hoarse.

Stolas's brow creases. "What do you think about the crystal?"

"What crystal?" Blitz asks, and Stolas's face crumples. The ugly sob snaps Blitz out of his stupor. He pulls Stolas into him by the shoulders and wraps around him, letting Stolas hide his face in Blitz's shoulder. Blitz kisses the side of his head and runs his fingers through feathers, a familiar movement that soothes the part of Blitz that has been pacing like a caged dog ever since the fuck-tacular disaster at Ozzie's. The one that has missed Stolas and hasn't known how to express it. "Why are you crying?" Blitz asks for the second time, half-terrified he's ruined everything and half-drunk on Stolas's scent.

Stolas doesn't get anything sensical out between his sobs. Blitz catches a strangled grim-grimoire and you and maybe the word stay, but the words are garbled and choked.

"Stolas," Blitz says seriously, "I could not care less about the book right now."

Stolas cries harder. Blitz holds him through it.

Maybe he and Stolas are more alike than he ever realized.

"Satan fucking damn it," Blitz curses. Stolas hiccups and looks up, eyes wide and watery.

"What?" Stolas asks.

Blitz sighs. "Fizz was fucking right, and he's gonna be such a dick about it."

Stolas stares. Then he snorts, and giggles, and leans into Blitz, and maybe that's the only happily ever after Blitz has ever needed.